Smells Like Teen Spirit: Packer Senior Runs Like the Wind

In a week where delinquents are stealing headlines, it’s great to see a story about a Brooklyn Heights based teen who is “on the positive tip” (as we believe is the vernacular). Packer Collegiate senior Eddie Owens gets some ink today in the NY Daily News:

NY Daily News: The Packer Collegiate senior rushed the final straightaway of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, tucked over a barrier and, for the first time in the race, grimaced. Stepping over the line, the lithe, auburn-haired racer raised his hand to acknowledge his parents, a 34-year-old meet record broken…

…The Brooklyn Heights product made his reputation on the dirt of the cross country course, not on the track. In November, his withering pace forged an audacious victory at the state Federation Cross Country Championships.

Last December’s Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships in San Diego signaled another breakthrough: an eighth-place finish in what is effectively the sport’s national championship.

“Eddie will run that same pace during a race and sort of dare you to do it with him,” said Pete Prince, the coach at Packer Collegiate rival Brooklyn Friends. “(Only) some of the best runners in the country have been able to do it.”